System to make consumers aware of electricity usage

ABSTRACT

Energy usage of a plurality of appliances is measured using a single meter. A pattern of energy usage with respect to the plurality of appliances is determined dependent upon the measured energy usage, appliance details of the plurality of appliances, and usage hours of the plurality of appliances. The pattern is provided to a user of the appliances.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The technical field of the present application relates to making endconsumers aware of their electricity usage.

BACKGROUND

In order to make energy consumers such as home owners aware of theenergy usage of their various appliances, information regarding energyusage is often provided to the energy consumers. It is hoped that thisawareness will help energy consumers to avoid energy waste in operatingtheir appliances.

Measurement equipment could, of course, be installed for each of theconsumer's energy consuming appliances, or least for each of theconsumer's major energy consuming appliances. Outputs from suchequipment could then be used to inform the consumers of the energy usageof their appliances. However, such equipment adds extra cost for each ofthe appliances being monitored.

Moreover, it is also desirable to install communication equipment inorder to communicate the energy consumption of the various appliances toa central module where the energy awareness information related to theappliances can be calculated and presented to the consumer. However, ifenergy measuring equipment is used for each appliance, providingcommunication equipment for each energy measuring equipment results ineven more cost.

Disclosed herein is an energy awareness system which avoids the additionof energy measurement equipment at each of the appliances to bemonitored for energy awareness. Instead, the energy awareness systemadds only one energy measurement equipment at the mains of the buildingor house. The awareness system, for example, may be arranged to poll theenergy measurement equipment at the mains in order to fetch the energyconsumption at the mains, and may further be arranged to use this energyconsumption data and profiles of each of the appliance within thebuilding or house to infer the consumption for each appliance.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Features, aspects, and advantages of the present invention will becomebetter understood when the following detailed description is read withreference to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates an example of an energy awareness system;

FIG. 2 illustrates processing equipment that can be used in the energyawareness system of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 illustrates an example of table containing appliance details andusage hours stored in memory of the energy awareness system of FIG. 1;

FIGS. 4-7 are graphs showing example inferences that can be made basedon power consumption measured by a single energy awareness meter;

FIG. 8 illustrates an example of an energy consumption report that maybe provided to occupant(s) of a building in which the energy awarenesssystem of FIG. 1 is deployed; and,

FIG. 9 is a flow chart of an example program that can be executed tocreate the report of FIG. 8.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

As shown in FIG. 1, an energy usage awareness system 10 includes anenergy awareness meter 12 that is coupled in an electrical service 14 ofa facility or building 16 downstream of an electric company's tariffmeter 18. The energy awareness meter 12, for example, may be a digitalmeter, and the building 16, for example, may be a residence such as ahouse. However, the energy awareness meter 12 may be other than adigital meter, and the building 16 may be other than a residence. Theelectric company's tariff meter 18 supplies energy usage informationthat is used for billing purposes by the electric company providing theelectrical service 14 to the building 16.

The energy awareness meter 12 measures the energy used by a plurality ofappliances 20 within the building 16 on a periodic basis, such as once aminute, to provide the measured energy usage information with a finelevel of granularity. Thus, the granularity of the energy consumptionmeasurements is at the minute by minute level. However, the energyawareness meter 12 may measure the energy consumed by the appliances 20within the building 16 on a periodic basis other than once a minute, orthe energy awareness meter 12 may measure the energy consumed by theappliances 20 within the building 16 on a non-periodic basis.

The energy usage awareness system 10 also includes a processingapparatus 22. The energy awareness meter 12 communicates the measuredenergy usage information to the processing apparatus 22 as soon as theenergy awareness meter 12 acquires the measured energy usageinformation. Alternatively, the energy awareness meter 12 may bearranged to store the measured energy usage information over apredetermined amount of time, such as hourly, and then communicate thestored information hourly to the processing apparatus 22. The processingapparatus 22 maintains the granularity of the energy usage measured bythe energy awareness meter 12.

The processing apparatus 22 may be provided locally within the building16. For example, the processing apparatus 22 may be located at theenergy awareness meter 12. In this case, the processing apparatus 22 andthe energy awareness meter 12 may be contained within the same housingor separate housings.

Alternatively, the processing apparatus 22 may be located within thebuilding 16 but remotely from the energy awareness meter 12. In thiscase, the processing apparatus 22 may be located so as to provideconvenient access to the occupant(s) of the building 16.

As a further alternative, the processing apparatus 22 may be providedremotely from the building 16. In this case, at least a display 24 ofthe processing apparatus 22 is located within the building 16 to provideenergy awareness information to its occupant(s). However, instead ofproviding the energy awareness information to the occupant(s) of thebuilding 16 by use of the display 24 associated with the processingapparatus 22, the energy awareness information can be otherwise providedto the occupant(s) of the building 16 such as by use of e-mail or postalmail.

The energy awareness meter 12 may be coupled to the processing apparatus22 by a link 26. For example, the link 26 may be a wire link. A wirelink may be most convenient in the case where the energy awareness meter12 and the processing apparatus 22 are located proximate to one another.Alternatively, the link 26 may be a wireless link. A wireless link maybe most convenient in the case where the processing apparatus 22 islocated remotely from the building 16 at which the energy awarenessmeter 12 is used. In the case where the energy awareness meter 12 andthe processing apparatus 22 are located remotely from one another butboth within the building 16, the link 26 may be either a wire link or awireless link to couple the energy awareness meter 12 and the processingapparatus 22.

As shown in FIG. 2, the processing apparatus 22, for example, includes aprocessor 28 such as computer, an input 30, an output 32, and a memory34.

The input 30 may include one or more input devices such as a mouse, akeyboard, etc. capable of inputting data to the processor 28. The input30 may be used to input data. This data may be stored in the memory 34or may be used directly by the processor 28.

The output 32 may include one or more output devices such as a monitor,a printer, etc. The monitor of the output 32 may or may not comprise thedisplay 24.

The memory 34 stores data such as input data, energy measurement data,and/or output data. The memory 34 may also store programming foroperating the processor 28 and for providing the energy awarenessinformation as described herein.

The occupant(s) of the building 16 provides appliance details and hoursof usage regarding the use of each electrical appliance on typical dayssuch as workdays, holidays, and weekends. This input is provided by useof the input 30 and is stored in the memory 34 or elsewhere. Theprocessor 28 may lead the occupant(s) through the input of this data byway of suitable displays on the output 32.

The appliance details includes, for example, the rating and type of eachof the electrical appliances. These electrical appliances are, forexample, dishwashers, clothes washers, clothes dryers, air conditioners,electric heaters, hot water heaters, etc.

FIG. 3 is a table 300 showing an example of appliance details 310 andusage hours 320 stored in the memory 34. Based on this table 300,certain inferences about the power consumed by the appliances in abuilding can be made from the actual overall power consumption asmeasured by the energy awareness meter 12.

The graph 400 of FIG. 4 shows by way of example the overall energyconsumption by the appliances of a building as measured by the energyawareness meter 12. The graph of FIG. 4 specifically points outs theinference 410 that can be made as to the power consumed by arefrigerator. This inference 410 is based on the table 300 of FIG. 3 andthe building energy consumption 420 as measured by the energy awarenessmeter 12. Although a refrigerator is turned “on” all of the time, itscompressor actually cycles “on” 430 and “off” 440 at a rate that dependson a number of factors. These factors include how well the refrigeratoris insulated, room temperature, freezer temperature, how often the dooris opened, cleanliness of the evaporator coils, defrosting regularity,and the condition of door seals. It is assumed for purposes of FIG. 4that the refrigerator cycles approximately 15 minutes on and 45 minutesoff. Also, the refrigerator continues to draw a small amount of powereven when it is switched “off.” The graph 400 of FIG. 4 shows that the“on” 430 and “off” 440 cycles exist throughout the day.

The graph 500 of FIG. 5 specifically points outs the inference 510 thatcan be made as to the power consumed by water heaters. Again, thisinference 510 is based on the table 300 of FIG. 3 and the buildingenergy consumption 520 as measured by the energy awareness meter 12. Thegraph 500 of FIG. 5 specifically points out the inferred contribution510 of two hot water heaters to the overall energy consumption 520measured by the energy awareness meter 12. The hot water heaters in thisexample each has a rating of 1500 watts and above. This graph 500 showsthat the two hot water heaters are “on” 530 primarily between 7:00 AMand 9:00 AM.

The graph 600 of FIG. 6 specifically points outs the inference 610 thatcan be made as to the power consumed by a microwave oven. This inference610 is likewise based on the table 300 of FIG. 3 and the building energyconsumption 620 as measured by the energy awareness meter 12. Themicrowave oven in this example has a rating of 1100 watts. The microwaveis on for a short duration, typically 1 to 3 minutes. The graph 600 ofFIG. 6 shows the two short duration spikes 630 corresponding tomicrowave oven usage.

The graph 700 of FIG. 7 specifically points outs the inference 710 thatcan be made as to the power consumed by fans, lights, and therefrigerator. This inference 710 is based on the table 300 of FIG. 3 andthe building energy consumption 720 as measured by the energy awarenessmeter 12.

Each time the energy awareness meter 12 measures energy usage within thebuilding 16, the processing apparatus 22 refers to the appliance detailsand usage hours stored in the memory 34 in order to infer whichappliance is being used.

The processing apparatus 22 assembles this inferred energy usageinformation 810 into a report 800 such as shown in FIG. 8 to make theoccupant(s) aware of the energy consumption of the various applianceswithin the building 16. This report 800, for example, shows the energyusage pattern for the appliances of the building 16. As indicated above,this report may be displayed on the display 24, may be e-mailed to theoccupant(s), or may be postal mailed to the occupant(s).

Accordingly, energy consumption awareness information may be providedfor some or all of the appliances of a building by use of a singleenergy awareness meter.

FIG. 9 if a flow chart illustrating a program 50 that may be stored inthe memory 34 and executed by the processor to produce the powerconsumption reports by appliance even though only a single measurementdevice is used as discussed above.

At 52 of the program 50, the power consumption of the facility orbuilding 16 as measured by the energy awareness meter 12 is read. At 54,the power consumption read at 52 and the time of the reading is storedin the memory 34. As indicated above, the granularity of the readingsmay be on a minute by minute basis. In this case, the output of theenergy awareness meter 12 is read at 52 and is stored at 54 each minute.However, any other suitable level of granularity can be used.

At 56, a determination is made as to whether it is time to reportappliance by appliance power consumption. Such a report may be madedaily or on any other desired basis. If it is not time to report,program flow returns to 52 for additional measurements. If it is time toreport, appliance by appliance inferences are made at 58 based on thetable of FIG. 3 that is stored in the memory 34 and the measurementsthat are read at 52 and are stored in the memory 34 at 54. At 60, anappliance by appliance power consumption report such as shown in FIG. 8is created based on these inferences. At 62, this report is provided asan output. For example, the report may be provided on the output 32 suchas by way of a displayed and/or printed report.

Certain modifications of the present invention have been discussedabove. Other modifications of the present invention will occur to thosepracticing in the art of the present invention.

For example, the energy usage awareness system 10 has been describedabove in connection with making building occupant(s) of their electricalenergy usage patterns. However, the energy usage awareness system 10 canbe used to make building occupant(s) of their patterns of using otherforms of energy such as gas. If the energy usage awareness system 10 isused to make building occupant(s) of their gas usage patterns, theenergy awareness meter 12 would be arranged to measure gas flow at themain input to the building 16, and the memory 34 stores appliancedetails includes, for example, the rating and type of each of the gasappliances. These gas appliances are, for example, dishwashers, clotheswashers, clothes dryers, hot water heaters, and/or other gas consumingappliances.

As another example, the building 16 may be a residence, a factory, anoffice building, a warehouse, or any other structure or enclosure orotherwise within which plural appliances are used.

Consequently, the description of the present invention is to beconstrued as illustrative only and is for the purpose of teaching thoseskilled in the art the best mode of carrying out the invention. Thedetails may be varied substantially without departing from the spirit ofthe invention, and the exclusive use of all modifications which arewithin the scope of the appended claims is reserved.

What is claimed is:
 1. An energy usage awareness method comprising:measuring combined energy usage of a plurality of appliances within abuilding using a single meter; retrieving appliance information from amemory, the appliance information comprising information about the typesof appliances installed within the building, the number of appliances ofeach type installed within the building, ratings information of each ofthe appliances, and a listing of typical usage hours of each appliance;inferring a pattern of energy usage for each appliance using themeasured energy usage, the appliance information, and the listing oftypical usage hours of each appliance type; and, providing the patternof energy usage to a user of the appliances.
 2. The method of claim 1wherein the step of providing the pattern to a user of the appliancescomprises displaying the pattern on a display.
 3. The method of claim 1wherein the step of providing the pattern to a user of the appliancescomprises displaying the pattern on a display that is located so as tobe viewable by the user and that is located remotely from the singlemeter.
 4. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of measuring energyusage comprises measuring the energy usage at a point that is between atariff meter and the appliances.
 5. The method of claim 4 wherein thestep of providing the pattern to a user of the appliances comprisesdisplaying the pattern on a display.
 6. The method of claim 4 whereinthe step of providing the pattern to a user of the appliances comprisesdisplaying the pattern on a display that is located so as to be viewableby the user and that is located remotely from the single meter.
 7. Themethod of claim 1 wherein the step of measuring energy usage of aplurality of appliances using a single meter comprises communicating themeasured energy usage to a processor, and wherein the determining of apattern of energy usage comprises determining the pattern of energyusage by use of the processor.
 8. The method of claim 7 wherein the stepof communicating the measured energy usage to a processor comprisescommunicating the measured energy usage to the processor over a wirelink.
 9. The method of claim 7 wherein the step of communicating themeasured energy usage to a processor comprises communicating themeasured energy usage to the processor over a wireless link.